Contrary to published reports, including one here at MMM, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman’s office has not opened a new criminal investigation into Governor Chris Christie’s role, if any, in quashing the prosecution of former Hunterdon County Sheriff Deborah Trout.

The initial inaccurate report was published by International Business Times, a content partner of MMM through repubHub. MMM published the IBT story after noticing it was being cited by other news outlets.

On Friday, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show published a report that included a denial from the U.S. Attorney’s office that it is investigating Christie over the Trout issue. (h/t SaveJersey)

“Any characterization that we are investigating the Governor about this is just not true … . [W]e talk to people all the time. It doesn’t mean we’re investigating anybody.”

Federal law enforcement officials have launched a criminal investigation of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and members of his administration, pursuing allegations the governor and his staff broke the law when they quashed grand jury indictments against Christie supporters, International Business Times has learned. Two criminal investigators from the U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday interviewed… Read the rest of this entry »

TRENTON — Federal prosecutors interviewed Gov. Chris Christie last month as part of the ongoing investigation into the George Washington Bridge lane closure controversy, according to a published report. The governor, who’s weighing a presidential campaign, met with prosecutors and the FBI for more than two hours, according to ABC news. The meeting took place at… Read the rest of this entry »

Federal prosecutors have widened their investigation into the relationship between Governor Chris Christie’s office and his 2013 reelection campaign, according to a report at The Wall Street Journal.

WSJ reports that U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman’s office has subpoenaed documents related to government meetings that Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop claims were canceled after he declined to endorse Christie’s reelection.

Robert Losasso, a 70 year old Somers Point man, was sentenced to 6 hours in jail today on charges that the shot and killed or attempted to kill four species of hawk protected by federal law, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman announced.

Matthew Reilly, Deputy Public Affairs Officer for Fishman’s office laughed when we asked if Losasso could be released before lunch on good behavior.

Losasso admitted that he fatally shot or attempted to shoot red-tailed, sharp-shinned, red shouldered and Cooper’s hawks on several occasions. These species are among the tens of thousands of birds of prey that migrate every year from Canada along the Atlantic Flyway through New Jersey. Losasso also admitted that he didn’t have any permit to shoot the birds.

Fourteen members of a major Jersey shore drug trafficking organization (DTO) were arrested this morning by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The DTO is alleged to be a large-scale supplier of heroin and cocaine in Monmouth, Ocean and Middlesex counties.

U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman joined representatives of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the DEA in announcing the arrests at the Prosecutor’s satellite office in Asbury Park.

A total of 22 defendants were charged in two complaints. 7 remain at large and one has been in custody since September on other charges.

Herve Cadet, a/k/a “Gotti,” a/k/a “Bro,” 29, of Neptune and Sayreville, New Jersey; and Eric Smith, a/k/a “EV,” a/k/a “E,” 42, of Manchester, New Jersey are the alleged leaders of the DTO. Smith is the defendant who has been incarcerated since September.

“The criminal complaints describe drug trafficking operations that have been responsible for sizable quantities of illegal narcotics on the streets of Asbury Park, Neptune Township, and the surrounding towns,” U.S. Attorney Fishman said. “We hope and expect that today’s arrests will make a real difference to the drug trafficking trade in these counties. This is not the last that you will hear from us in this fight.”Read the rest of this entry »

U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman is leaning on former Port Authority officials David Samson, Bill Baroni and David Wildstein and Charles McKenna, Governor Chris Christie’s former Chief Counsel, to”filp” on Christie, according to a report published on Esquire today.

Esquire’s two anonymous sources “with intimate knowledge” of Fishman’s investigation into “Bridgegate” said that Samson, Baroni and Wildstein each face “near-certain” indictment.

Esquire says that Baroni and Wildstein have implicated Samson and that “if Sampson doesn’t give Fishman Christie, Sampson is toast.”

Devender Singh, 61, an Indian national who resides in Baton Rouge, LA was arrested by federal authorities at Newark-Liberty airport yesterday as he departed his United Airlines flight from Houston, TX.

Singh is alleged to have kissed and fondled the female passenger sitting next to him while she was sleeping. The woman told the FBI that when she awoke, Singh’s hand was in her shirt, he was kissing her face and cheek, and that he was stroking his exposed penis with his other hand.

The married jeweler appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo this afternoon. He remains detained in federal custody with the option to request a bail hearing. Should he be convicted of abusive sexual contact, Singh faces a possible two years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Monmouth County GOP Chairman John Bennett didnot issue a statement accusing his Democratic counterpart, Vin Gopal, of being a sexual predator because he is of Indian descent.

Last month Gopal accused Monmouth County Republicans of being corrupt because former Manalapan Mayor Andrew Lucas was indicted on fraud charges for actions connected to the acquisition of a farm that he later sold the development rights to for farmland preservation. Last October, Gopal falsely accused a Red Bank Republican candidate of being a fugitive.

Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth) said today that he is asking U.S Attorney Paul Fishman to open criminal investigations into the municipal clients of Redflex Traffic Systems, an Arizona based red light camera company, due to legal claims by a former executive that the company routinely bribed municipal officials in 13 states, including New Jersey, in order to obtain the lucrative contracts to operate camera systems that issue summonses for red light infractions.

Additionally, O’Scanlon is writing to Assembly Transportation Committee Chairman John Wisniewski to ask that the committee open an investigation into New Jersey’s red light camera program in light of the recent bribery allegations and scientific proof commissioned by O’Scanlon that red light cameras are a detriment to public safety that are rigged to cheat motorists.

TRENTON — State lawmakers leading the legislative investigation of the George Washington Bridge lane closures today said they plan to proceed with their probes even as the U.S. Attorney is dropping subpoenas in the case. State Assemblyman John Wisniweski…